For the first time in its history, Montreal retailer Reitmans will not be led by a member of the founding family.
The company announced Tuesday that Andrea Limbardi will become CEO of Reitmans in September. She will succeed Stephen Reitman, who will become chairman of the board.
The announcement comes as Reitmans will release its year-end financial performance on Wednesday and hold its annual meeting of shareholders the following day.
Reitmans has been led by a member of the Reitman family since the company was founded 97 years ago.
A first analyst has just launched, on Friday, an official coverage of the activities of Vision Marine. Analyst Craig Irwin of the firm Roth recommends buying the stock of the manufacturer of 100% electric boats and electric motors for boats. The analyst anticipates significant growth thanks to new business initiatives launched by management. He also suspects that Vision Marine is talking to several boat manufacturers to supply them with electric motors.
The new chairman of the board of directors of National Bank bought half a million dollars worth of shares in the Montreal financial institution this week. Robert Paré bought a block of 5,150 shares on Tuesday. He paid a unit price of $97.
Couche-Tard could covet the service station network of the Irving oil company. The strategic review conducted by Irving suggests a new ownership structure, a sale, in whole or in part, or a change in the portfolio of its assets and the way it operates them. TD analyst Michael Van Aelst, however, notes an overlap between Couche-Tard and Irving’s network in the east of the country, which would possibly require divestments if Couche-Tard were to acquire some of the assets. He also points out in a note published Friday that Couche-Tard already operates a number of Irving stores under an agreement signed in 2001 and expanded in 2008 covering more than 300 sites.
Fiera Capital started the week with a favorable first recommendation on Bay Street. BMO analyst Étienne Ricard is now the only analyst to suggest buying the action of the Montreal asset manager out of the eight that follow the title. He finds the risk/reward ratio attractive and does not fear a dividend cut, unless there is a significant and sustained decline in assets under management, i.e. of the order of 20% or more.
Quincaillerie Richelieu lost the support of the CIBC at the start of the week. Analyst Hamir Patel on Monday withdrew his buy recommendation on the stock of the Montreal hardware supplier. In particular, he expects that demand for renovation products in the country will be less strong in the coming years, since more and more households will see their budgets compressed by the renewal of mortgages at higher rates. The only other analyst following the stock still offers the buy.
A senior SNC-Lavalin executive has just purchased $125,000 worth of shares in the Montreal engineering firm. One of the heads of engineering services at SNC, Philip Hoare, bought a block of 3,894 shares on May 25. He paid a unit price of $32.25.
A cannabis retailer in which Couche-Tard has a 36% stake announced Tuesday that it is appealing the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act. The stock market slide of Fire
Quebec securities of BMTC, Stella-Jones, Transat and Groupe ADF all reached a 52-week high on the Toronto Stock Exchange this week. On the other hand, those of Tecsys and Hexo have just hit a 52-week low.
